Cheering Charms
by Catherine Daye
Summary: Ella shouted at the top of her lungs. She lunged forward between her parents' seats, arms flailing about, causing her father to swerve about on the road.
1. Chapter One

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter series nor claim any rights to its characters._

_Cannon Characters, Settings, Cannon Concept_

_(C) J. K. Rowling 2007_

_Original Characters, Original Settings, Original Concepts_

_(C) E. L. Pendragon 2007_

_Author's Notes: Well, this is it. I've planned this thing for about a week. I finnaly get around to typing it up. Please excuse my spelling mistakes, I was half asleep when I wrote some of this. Love or hate, reviews are appreciated. I'm going to write a free-verse poem to go with this someday. Ahh.. The antics of a delerious teen.. But anywho, as we progress through the series, you'll notice that I skip around the years. But don't worry, it'll be within comprehension. Enjoy!_

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**Cheering Charms**

**Chapter One**

**At the Beginning**

"Ella dear, if you don't hurry up, you'll miss the train!" called Mother from downstairs.

Ella groaned from beneath her blankets. As much as she was excited to be going to Hogwarts today, she really didn't want to get up. Not much of a morning person. She only had enough will power to uncover her head so she could see into the world of the living. Armando, her elderly black and white cat, continued to snooze on her feet.

After sitting there for several minutes, Ella decided to roll out of bed. "Armando, time to get up." she mumbled sleepily to her cat. The old fur ball mrowed in discomfort. Lazy yawn and the cat just fell back to sleep. Groggily, Ella gazed over at her cat.

"You're going to regret that later," Ella said with a huff. After much shifting of her blankets and quilts, a skinny, redheaded girl was revealed. Frazzled haired and groggy eyes, Ella stretched her cramped arms. For years, Ella had a small habit of sleeping in a ball-shape with her arms wrapped around her legs. She's been doing this for years despite the fact that she always wakes up with cramps in her arms. After the stretch, she pulled out the hair tie that was tangled up in her hair. She ruffled her hair a bit to make sure nothing else was in there and began the ever-so-strenuous task of standing. Upon contact with the floor, Ella stumbled a bit. She shook away the sleepiness and walked to wards her closet for the outfit she had set out. A crisp Newcastle shirt with a pair of blue jeans, her favorite outfit.

As for clothes and hobbies, Ella is about as tomboyish as possible. She despises wearing dresses or skirts and rarely wears anything that makes her look more girly. She was greatly dismayed that the robes that they were required were much like dresses. But the good thing was is that they could wear normal clothes underneath. Ella is more or less, a HUGE football fan. Newcastle posters plastered on every square inch of wall in her room. Trash talk about her team and Ella will brutally attack you until you scream for mercy. Well, that's if someone doesn't contain her, like holding her down or tying her to a chair. According to her father, Ella is rather funny to watch when tied to a chair.

After she was finished getting dressed, Ella became fully aware of the world. She stole a glance at her clock. 10: 36. A few seconds went by before Ella realized what time it was. A usual morning thing. At this moment she began to panic.

"AHGH" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" She ran out her room. Her hair still in tangles and she still had a small crusty outline from where her eyes were watering. A lone hair tie hung around her ear. Ella dashed down the stairs, nearly falling in the process.

"Mum! Dad!" Ella yelled throughout the house. As she went through the kitchen, she stole a glance at the clock. "We're going to be late! We're going to be la-" She paused. Ella looked straight at the grandmother clock that sits above the stove. 8:30 With a huge sigh of relief, Ella collapsed into a near-by chair. Red-faced, she began to bang her head against the table in embarrassment.

Her father, who goes by the name of Joseph, came into the kitchen with a half tied tie and a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Why he was in the kitchen is hard to guess, but nonetheless he noticed Ella banging her head against the table. He finished brushing his teeth and spat the toothpaste into the nearby, empty sink. Joseph had a look of amusement and confusion on his face. He took a seat opposite of Ella and began tying his tie.

"What was that all about?" her father asked in a way that copied his facial expression.

Ella looked up for a second to see her father there and sat up to where she could see him. Ella's usually hazel-green eyes were now red with morning exhaustion. She jerked her head to wards the clock and continued to bang her head against the table.

Ella's father nodded with a look of understanding.

"Ah, yes. Well then, you should finish getting ready or we'll be late." Joseph said casually to Ella. Joseph stood up from his chair and made his way out of the kitchen. He paused for a moment to say, "By the way, we're stopping to get breakfast on our way to the station."

Still red in the face, Ella nodded and went back upstairs to her room. She pushed her door open. Her blankets still layed in a tangled mess and Armando snored on under her pillow. Ella let out a small laugh at Armando's determination to sleep as long as he can. But to the cat's discontent, she had the wake him up. She made her way acrossed her room to her bed and gently removed the pillow. Armando was flipped onto his back with his rather furry stomach facing the outside world. Out of habit, Ella rubbed her cat's stomach. This usually wakes him up. With a streatch and a merrow, Armando rolled onto his side, almost awake.

"Armando, we need to get you to the vet." Ella said teasingly. Armando pricked his ears and dashed out of the room. He hated the vet, espicially after he was deprived of his 'man pride'. But fortunently for him, Armando wasn't going to the vet. With Armando awake and out of her room, Ella began to make her bed. She knew that she wasn't going to be home for at least four months and her mother was definately not going to make her bed when Ella leaves. It would be in the same state until Ella came home.

About ten minutes later, in a dream like rush, Ella was sitting in a trance like state with Armando in the seat next to her in his cat box. She could hardly believe she was finally on her way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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_Other Author's Notes: Newcastle is a football team, known mostly for their bar code jerserys. And yes, I'm trying to use as many British terms as possible. Personally, I think that a story set in a Bristish world with American terms just sounds stupid. If you find something that could be changed to a British term, please let me know. Reviews are loved, adored and overall needed. All advice is welcomed with open arms and heeded._


	2. Chapter Two

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter series nor claim any rights to its characters._

_Canon Characters, Settings, Canon Concept_

_(C) J. K. Rowling 2007_

_Original Characters, Original Settings, Original Concepts_

_(C) E. L. Pendragon 2007_

_Author's Notes: Well, this is it. The second chapter of Cheering Charms. Just in case your wondering how long this fic will be, I'm planning on from Ella's first year to age 25. Plus a one shot full of letters from my characters to other characters. Yup, that will be a while considering the rate I'm going. Please be patient! And yes, I'm making a big deal about napkins to clean up cheese._

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**Cheering Charms**

**Chapter Two**

**Highway to.. Heck?**

The ford angela rumbled endlessly on the highway. The Braxtons has just made their way through the drive-through, luckily without hassle. As it was a Sunday morning, mostly everyone was in church or sleeping in. Ella, clutching her breakfast muffin, stared at it with much disbelief. It wasn't the fact that she didn't believe that she was eating a breakfast muffin, it was more of the disbelief that she, Ella Braxton, was going to a school of wizards and witches. Her stomach churned with butterflies as she tried to eat a bit of the muffin. She took a tiny bite and cheese oozed between the sausage and scrambled egg and onto her fingers. Ella grimaced at the hot cheese and attempted to find a napkin. After much searching, Ella remembered that had used up all the napkins cleaning up the orange juice she had spilled earlier. What luck.. A little consideration, and Ella licked off the cheese. It wasn't a whole lot so it didn't bother her much.

Ella took another bite of her muffin, a bigger one this time. Luckily for her, no cheese had greeted her fingers. Ella leaned a little from her window seat towards the middle. Ten o'clock.

"We only have an hour to get there and we haven't reached London yet." Ella said with much irritation. She hated being late and didn't know other wise how to get to Hogwarts. The guide that had taken Ella and her parents to Diagon Alley had said that they _had _to be there a little before eleven o'clock. She crossed her arms in a slight pout and looked ready to kill.

Her mother heaved a heavy sigh and turned to face Ella in the back seat.

"Ella, chill. We're almost there." she said with as much understanding, authority and held temper as five words can handle. "There are more than one way to get to Hogwarts, remember?" Daniella gave her daughter with a meaningful look and turned back around in her seat.

Ella, still wearing her pouted expression, moved her gaze to glare at her reflection. Random trees and some rather interesting billboards passed by the tinted window without notice. An angry Ella can last for a long time depending on what she's mad at. For this instance it lasted until the word 'London' decided to show up.

The Braxton family sat in silence. Few points of interest lay scattered along the side of the road. Every now and again, a tree would poke it's leafy head to loom over the highway or one would see a crow picking at an unfortunent animal.

"OH MY GOSH! Did you guys see that sign back there?" Ella nearly screamed in the tense silence. Her face almost an inch away from her father's face, green eyes wide with excitement. Joseph leaned slightly to the right, trying to distance himself from Ella.

"Ella, could you sit back? I'm trying to drive." he said in an irritated voice.

But Ella persisted, insisting that her father would answer the question.

"Did you see that sign?" she repeated in the same overly excited tone.

Joseph took a glance at Ella while trying to keep his eyes on the road. Daniella rolled her eyes and attempted to push Ella back in her seat.

"Yes Ella, we saw the sign. Now sit back." Daniella said with as much authority as could possibly be manged. With a huff of satisfaction, Ella sat back in her seat. But she didn't keep still for long. Ella started to jump up and down in her seat and kept trying to find London before her parents did. Another ten minutes down the road and London finally peaked over the highway.

"THERE IT IS! THERE IT IS!" Ella shouted at the top of her lungs. She lunged forward between her parents' seats, arms flailing about, causing her father to swerve about on the road.

"Ella, how many times do I have to tell you to sit back in your seat!" Daniella nearly shouted in the tiny car. Ella relented the arm flailing but she didn't move an inch from her spot. A look of barely contained excitement was plastered on her face. Joseph and Daniella both looked at eachother exasperated looks on their faces. Ella plus Excitment equals Migrain.

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As all of this was going on in the tiny ford angela on the Highway, a _very_ different family was having a few problems of their own.

"Fred! George! Sit still!"

"Stop poking me!"

"I'm not even touching you!"

"Mommy, I'm hungry"

"Ginny, we just ate."

"Mom, he's touching me."

"Am not!"

"Will all of you just be quiet!" a man's voice sounded above the irritated chatter. Arthur Weasley rarely raised his voice to his children. That was usually Molly's job. But in this instance, silence is golden.

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_Author's Notes: Well, sorry for the long wait. I was actually planning on finishing Chapter Two two weeks ago.. But I got sick and school started.. So yeah.. As you can see, the Weasleys make an appearance! Oh happy day! I have plans for at least thirty chapters so far. But as you, know that will definately increase as we go on. Please be patient! Don't worry, the chapters will get longer. Please review!_


	3. Chapter Three

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter series nor claim any rights to its characters._

_Canon Characters, Settings, Canon Concepts_

_(C) J. K. Rowling 2007_

_Original Characters, Original Settings, Original Concepts_

_(C) E. L. Pendragon 2007_

_Author Rants: Well.. Here we go again. Sorry about updating with few chapters and far between. For a while that can't be helped. I'll try my best to write something that isn't crappy as fast as I can. But for now... Enjoy the few chapters I have up! Yaaaay! And after reading the first chapter, I noticed that forgot all about Armando sitting in the back seat. Let's pretend that he had fallen asleep while they were traveling on the interstate and decided to make a reappearnce. _

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**Cheering Charms**

**Chapter Three**

**The Worst Drive in London**

Being the jumpy little red headed monster she was, Ella couldn't contain her bottled up excitement any longer. She started with just jumping around in her seat. Next came uncontrollable shaking and rolling the window up and down constantly. But that was normal behavior for Ella when she gets hyper. It gets rather strange after that.

As the tiny ford angela made it's way down the crowded streets of London, Daniella had taken this chance to do a little bit of site seeing. Her dark blue eyes widened with excitement with every point of interest that came along. She gazed open mouthed at the people who walked the streets. The variety of people that walked along the streets was absolutely astounding to an old country girl.

Ella and Joseph, on the other hand, paid no heed to the bustling streets. Ella was too busy bouncing about in her seat and Joseph was busy trying to concentrate on driving. In this unfamiliar territory, he needed to focus all his concentration on driving.

"Hey Dad," Ella called from her back seat. "Are we there yet?"

Joseph sighed and replied in a disgruntled voice, "Not now Ella, I'm trying to drive."

Ella relinquished her question for a moment and then turned to her mother for an answer.

"Mom, are we there yet?" she asked, positioning herself right beside her mother's head.

Daniella just muttered something intelligible and motioned her hand towards Joseph. Ella had taken this as 'Go ask your father'.

"Dad, are there yet?" Ella repeated.

"Ella, we're not there there yet. Could you please keep it down?" Joseph replied in a slightly irritated monotone.

Ella waited for a few moments before asking her mother again. When she asked, she was paid with the same intelligible muttering. Slightly discouraged by her mother's murmers, Ella was quiet for about five minutes.

"Dad, are we there yet?"

"Does it look like we're there yet?" Joseph asked, taking a peek at the rear view mirror.

Ella shook her head in answer.

"Good, then we're not there yet." he said.

Ella cautiously weighed out her choices; either be quiet for the remainder of the journey or keep asking. The latter seemed most appealing, so off she went.

"Are there yet, now?" she asked.

Joseph closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. What a long winded, short morning trip this turned out to be. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, conteplating on what to say next.

"Ella dear, we will get there when we get there." Joseph said finally, trying to keep all anger out of his voice. "Does that answer your question?"

Ella cocked her head to the side, unsure of what to do. After just a few seconds of brain power, Ella nodded. It seemed the right thing to do at the moment. Hopefully, this wouldn't hamper answering her other questions.

Amidst the gawking, grumbling and endless questions, a black-and-white tom cat awakened in his basket. Barely any had paid attention to the poor cat since they had started this journey. After sitting there restlessly in his basket, waiting attention or maybe a cuddle, Armando almost had to resort to getting himself out. But, he had a better idea, and it didn't involve tearing up the basket. He'd probably get in more trouble if he tore up the basket. Armando turned to his last and only resort; distressful meowing. First he started off with a low, irritated meow and slowly built it up to an uncomprehendable screech.

This definately got everyone's attention.

Ella stopped her questions. Joseph immediatly tore his eyes from the road, (They were at a stop light anyway). And Daniella stopped her gawking long enought to see what was the matter. Armando gleefully oblidged with his newly found audience and wailed even louder. Just enough for Ella to reach over and open up the basket. But Joseph tried to interupt things.

"Ella, don't open up that basket." he called from the front seat. "He'll just wander around the car and we won't be able to get him back."

"Dad, I won't let him out my arms." Ella replied back, paying no heed to the warning.

With a light _click_ of the basket clamp, the black-and-white terror was released. Before Ella could even get close to picking him up, Armando dashed underneath the carseat. Ella immediatly took off her seat belt and went to the floor of the car to try and get Armando back up to the surface. But as soon as she hit the floor, a little yell of surprise issued from Daniella. Daniella, who had returned to her sight seeing, was taken by surprise when Armando paid her a little visit in the passenger seat.

"Good morning, Armando." Daniella cooed. "A lovely day for a drive, isn't it?" She reached down and picked up the mangy furball so he could see out the window. A few passer-by who happened to glance by the window, stopped to get a good look at the site-seeing cat. A few laughed but many just pointed. One even took a picture. It was one thing seeing a dog do it. But a cat, that was absolutely silly.

Joseph stole a glance to see what that cat was doing. Just sitting there. Probably planning something. His thoughts ran through what that cat could possibly be planning. That smug little face wasn't convincing enough to be an innocent stare into the open world. To keep the cat inside and to keep Ella from wailing in despair, Joseph took action.

"Dani, dear, would you roll up that window so that cat won't get out." he said to Daniella.

"Oh, this furbal isn't going anywhere." Daniella protested, but oblidged anyway.

"When we get closer to the station, that cat is going back into the basket." Joseph continued, in a fatherly-like voice. "We don't need the guards arresting us for having an uncontained animal.

"Joseph, you worry too much." Daniella replied, in a calm, soothing voice.

Ella watched her parents lovingly bicker with one another. They did that sort of thing all the time. Her mother usually ended up winning most of the time. But, it was rather funny to watch.

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_Author Notes: __Sorry for making you guys wait for so long! And we're still not at the station. But oh well.. I was putting a lot into the actual journey. I'll try not to have nearly so much traveling scenes when they actually get on the train._

_Special thanks to Emily Mae, Eternal Silver Flame, Frances Flick, PirateGirlForever and yellowrosepetals for putting this story on their alert list. And another many thanks to Emily Mae and twilightpenguin for the reviews. And even MORE many thanks to Frances Flick for favoriting._

_I know there's a couple names repeating, but I had to get everybody in there. Thanks for the support! I'm being motivated now!_

_OH! Forgot one more person. My lovely friend, Toast. I pitched the original concept at her when I making a History for my main character on a post-Hogwarts site. She gave the early moral support in the early stages of planning the plot. An extra special thanks to Toast! ((By the way, that's not her real name. She's an internet friend and that's her nickname.))_


	4. DRABBLE TIME!

_Well, hello there reader. It's been quite a long while since I've last updated, no? I've got my reasons.. Mostly loosing interest in the story. But fear not, for I bring good tidings as well as bad! In the past, Ella has been my first and only OC to make it as a roleplaying character. I loved her dearly, but when this story sort of got away from me, so did Ella. But, as of late, my attachment for my first OC have resurfaced and I totally revamped her. She's still the somewhat tomboyish red-head that you, the readers, are familiar with, but with some differences. And not only that, Cheering Charms is going to get a HUGE revision. It's going to get rewritten from the beginning (or lack thereof, xD) complete with character changes. :3 It may sound kind of horrible at the moment, but really.. It'll be good. And to keep you tied over until that happens, here's a random little drabble that sort of popped out of my head once when I couldn't sleep. This guy has nothing to do with Cheering Charms, I just thought you might like him. It's short, and probably not very good (like I said.. it was late. xD), but it's here to tie you over until the revisions are made. Nevertheless, I hope you like it. ;3  
_

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There's a water stain on the ceiling. Not that he could do anything about it. The landlord had forbidden any improvements to be made on any of the rooms, stating that such things were awards to good tenants. Hogswallop, if you ask him. It's probably just a scam to get people to their rent on time. not a bad idea really, just a little on the seedy side. But enough about that.

The shaggy haired youth turned himself over in his moth-ridden mattress to improve the scenery. This didn't really cheer him up much, except for the window. It was small, and rather dingy, but it let in enough light to let him know it was still daylight out. Upon further inspection, one would find that the panes had recently been replaced, but to no avail. The dirt and grime (the reason for it being so dingy) from the streets below probably got to it before the people responsible even left the room. Well.. He guessed it _could _be called a room. It was just over two feet larger than your average standard issue closet-sized room, according the landlord.

This came much to the disappointment to it's new shaggy-haired tenant, who had very much looked forward to having a stereo-typical 'just out of school' adult life. Then again.. he hadn't even realized he had wanted such a life, until he was denied the very basics of stereo-typical 'just out of school' adult life. The first being, the closet-sized apartment. The second, of which he noticed while pondering the first,w as the mysterious bit of twisty wire that hangs off the wall. Instead, he had a very old and very ragged bit of poster that was probably the previous tenant's attempt at livening the dreary just-over-two-feet-over-the-standard-closet sized room. It must have been a very nice poster for the tenant to want to hang it up. Of course, for him/her/it to even have permission from the landlord to hand it up in the first place must have been kind of special. Either that or the stain on the ceiling wasn't from the person above overflowing the tub. To be honest, he wouldn't put it past him. The landlord, I mean. The landlord did fit the appearance of one such person.

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_Ahh.. Now that's it typed up, it looks TOO short. But that's okay, right? After the revisions are made up to the point where I stopped, I think I'll have a series that's just a whole bunch of drabbles. So.. If you happen to like this drabble, I'll keep it. Don't you worry about it! SUPER SUPER DUPER thanks to anyone who is still out there that is waiting for the series to continue. I love you all. :3 Just hold tight there kids, and keep a shard look out for Cheering Charms, v. II. OH. I'm sure you've noticed, but I've changed my pen name. :3 It's not my real name, I just like it. It's pretty. ;3  
_


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